Though Sherie Rene Scott and Dick Scanlan are billed as co-authors of the intriguing new drama,WHORL INSIDE A LOOP, some of the play's most gripping moments were penned by a quintet of writers credited with supplying "additional material": Andre Kelley, Marvin Lewis, Felix Machado, Richard Norat and Jeffrey Rivera.

Since taking its initial Broadway bow in 1964, there has not been a decade when a new production of Fiddler on the Roof has not opened on Broadway. Based on short stories by Yiddish humorist Sholom Aleichem, Jerry Bock (music), Sheldon Harnick (lyrics) andJoseph Stein's (book) poignant tale of a younger generation's rebellion against the marriage traditions of their parents originally ran for 3,242 performances; Broadway's longest run until it was surpassed by GREASE.

If the plot of A.R. Gurney's newest, LOVE AND MONEY, seems more than vaguely familiar, that point is eventually fully acknowledged by the playwright, when a character refers to the exact story that most audience members must have thinking of throughout director Mark Lamos' agreeable production.

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF KENYON PHILLIPS may be Tony-winning actress Cady Huffman's directorial debut, but having made her first Broadway bow as one of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES' notorious Cagelles and following-up with a trio of memorable showgirl performances in THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES. THE PRODUCERS and THE NANCE, she's a natural choice to mount this glam-rock, burlesque, circus cavalcade that, at its heart, is pure show-biz.

Off-Broadway's The New Group is known for selecting plays that lean towards being edgy and controversial. Director Scott Elliot's sharp and tense production of Philip Ridley's 2005 post-apocalyptic drama MERCURY FUR sure has the look and feel of something edgy and controversial, but the text would be more aptly described as vague and tedious.

"Race is a fiction. It's a myth," explains the excitable genetic anthropologist at the center of Deborah Zoe Laufer's compelling morality drama, INFORMED CONSENT. "All of the things we see as race are about migratory patterns!"

The legendary Greenwich Village piano bar, Marie's Crisis, will be hosting a sing-a-long beer garden at Elsie Fest, New York City's first outdoor music festival celebrating tunes from the stage and screen.

But while musical theatre lovers know the name Marie's Crisis, many are baffled by its origin. And why does the sign outside say Marie's Crisis Café when they don't serve food? Here's a quick rundown of things you may not know about Marie's Crisis.

Any concerns about the state of 21st Century Broadway musicals can be swiftly addressed by having The Public Theater transfer a show to Times Square once every season. The non-profit Off-Broadway multiplex that sent Hair and A Chorus Line uptown has, in recent years, been continually mounting some of the best musicals in town.

Having been sung on Broadway eight times a week for over 27 years, even longer on the West End and in multiple productions world-wide, Scott Siegel wasn't kidding when he called Phantom of The Opera's "Music of The Night," "the most amplified and electronically enhanced song of all time," before introducing Christopher Johnstone's beautiful unmiked rendition.

Apparently, the title character of Fernanda Coppel's snazzy new drama King Liz begins every work day by rapping a full-out performance of Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy," ending with a mic drop that her assistant catches inches from the floor.

Director/conceiver Jack Cummings III begins Transport Group's Three Days To See, taken from the writings of Helen Keller, with his seven member ensemble bombarding the audience with a quickly paced barrage of jokes about the famous deafblind woman who became a role model for overcoming physical challenges.

Deep Love: A Ghostly Rock Opera, now receiving a handsomely designed mounting at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, began life as a rock concert with a plot, created by three fellows in the music industry with, according to their bios, little or no experience in musical theatre. As a concert, their two-act show is a spirited display of hard-driving goth rock, but as musical theatre, the generic lyrics and muddy storytelling leave much to be desired.

Jerry Seinfeld recently ruffled some feathers by expressing on a radio interview how many stand-up comics these days avoid playing colleges for fear of a politically correct backlash from younger audiences who may find their material racially insensitive.

Perhaps that viewpoint gave him extra incentive to participate as director of Colin Quinn's latest theatre monologue, The New York Story, a show that explores the rich diversified heritage of New York City one ethnic joke at a time.

About Michael: After 20-odd years singing, dancing and acting in
dinner theatres, summer stocks and the ever-popular
audience participation murder mysteries (try
improvising with audiences after they've had two hours
of open bar), Michael Dale segued his theatrical
ambitions into playwriting. The buildings which once
housed the 5 Off-Off Broadway plays he penned have all
been destroyed or turned into a Starbucks, but his
name remains the answer to the trivia question, "Who
wrote the official play of Babe Ruth's 100th
Birthday?" He served as Artistic Director for The
Play's The Thing Theatre Company, helping to bring
free live theatre to underserved communities, and
dabbled a bit in stage managing and in directing
cabaret shows before answering the call (it was an
email, actually) to become BroadwayWorld.com's first
Chief Theatre Critic. While not attending shows
Michael can be seen at Shea Stadium pleading for the
Mets to stop imploding. Likes: Strong book musicals
and ambitious new works. Dislikes: Unprepared
celebrities making their stage acting debuts by
starring on Broadway and weak bullpens.